It looks like budget-focused Sprint subsidiary Virgin Mobile USA is taking a page out of T-Mobile's book. Starting on Friday, the carrier will allow users to access certain streaming music services without taking the requisite hit to their data caps. The selection is a bit paltry at the moment (and notably lacking in both Google Play Music and Apple's Music service), but fans of Pandora Radio, Slacker, and iHeart Radio should be glad to hear that they can listen to practically unlimited amounts of music while they're out and about without incurring an extra charge.

Virgin Mobile is also reshuffling its phone plans. Customers now have the choice between the base plan with 500 minutes, unlimited text, and no data for $25, or increasing buckets of 1GB for $35, 3GB for $45, or 8GB for $55. All "unlimited" data plans (which cut you down to 2G speeds once you hit the oxymoronic limit) have no cap on talk or text. All plans except the base include unlimited music streaming on those three services.

Those plans are up from 250MB, 1GB, and 3GB at their respective levels, so it's quite a bump for the same price. Of course, you'll still have to choose from Virgin's rather limited selection of smartphones (most of which are at least a year old) and deal with piggybacking on Sprint's network, which isn't exactly the most robust in the country.

iHeartRadio is the only all-in-one streaming music and digital radio service that features thousands of live radio stations from across the country, interruption-free custom stations based on an artist or song, and on-demand podcasts available 24/7, everywhere listeners are – all for free.

Pandorastreams more music than any other service in the world based on a simple, enduring focus: to effortlessly connect each listener to the music they love. Create personalized stations that play only your favorite music based on your favorite artist, songs or genres and then let Pandora do the rest.

Slacker Radio is next-generation personalized radio, allowing music lovers to choose from the broadest selection of human-curated music, news, and sports stations that are personalized to their taste. Listeners can also create their own stations from a catalog of songs ten times as large as the leading service. Slacker can be accessed for free from virtually any mobile device and most new car models.

“The launch of our new plans with limitless music demonstrates Virgin Mobile’s continued commitment to consumers of offering innovative offers that provide value and a unique experience,” said Angela Rittgers, vice president-Virgin Mobile USA.

Virgin Mobile USA Smartphone Lineup Expands

Virgin Mobile is also adding three new smartphones capable of taking advantage of free streaming music, including:

HTC Desire 626s, priced at $129.99 (plus tax) and available now at www.virginmobileusa.com, comes loaded with a 5-inch, 720p HD touchscreen display, latest version of Android™ 5.1, Lollipop, and an 8-megapixel, rear-facing camera.

Huawei Union, priced at $79.99 (plus tax) and available now at Best Buy and on Oct. 13 at www.virginmobileusa.com, comes equipped with the latest version of Android™ 5.1, Lollipop, a large 4.5-inch touchscreen display and a 5-megapixel, rear-facing camera.

The new Moto G (third generation) by Motorola, priced at $149.99 (plus tax) and available now at www.virginmobileusa.com, is durable and water-resistant with a 13-megapixel, rear-facing camera, 5-inch HD TFT touchscreen display with Corning® Gorilla®Glass 3, and the latest version of Android™ 5.1, Lollipop.

Virgin Mobile USA5, one of Sprint's prepaid brands, offers control, flexibility and connectivity to value-seeking customers through a variety of no-contract wireless plans on the Nationwide Sprint® Network with LTE and Enhanced LTE service (where available)6. Virgin Mobile offers a diverse selection of iconic smartphones. Experience Virgin Mobile on the Web at virginmobileusa.com and on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

1Virgin Mobile has no annual contracts; service subject to certain terms.2LimitlessMusic: Some streaming partners may require paid subscription or assess other fees. Cloud streaming, song downloads, video content, non-audio content and other data sent by streaming partners (e.g., pic advertisements, album art) excluded. Hotspot data not included. Available from select content providers. Visit http://www.virginmobileusa.com/datafreemusic/ and check list as more services may be added.3Data: Once plan’s applicable high-speed data threshold reached, speeds reduced to 2G speeds for remainder of plan cycle. Data packs available for select plans/devices only & expire when depleted or 30 days from purchase date.4Mobile data not included nor available with this plan.5Virgin and the Virgin signature logo are registered trademarks of Virgin Enterprises Limited and are used under license.6Nationwide Sprint LTE network reaches over 270 million people. The Enhanced LTE network reaches 125 million people on devices with enabled tri-band LTE capability. Visit www.sprint.com/coverage for info.

Comments

Sigh... The consumer does not win when only certain services benefit from this... Going back to reasonable unlimited data plans would be an actual win for us.

Brad

The consumer wins here... any legitimate music service can join in.....

MJ

I guess streaming my purchased music from my PC or some cloud service is NOT a legitimate music service. LOL

When I tell my kids I used to have $30 unlimited data service they will straight out call me a liar.

PC_Tool

"I guess streaming my purchased music from my PC or some cloud service to my phone is NOT a legitimate music service. "

You're right. It's not.

KlausWillSeeYouNow

Give me a freaking break. I am not saying this is a great plan; what I am saying is a few streaming music services included is better than what it used to be (0), and you can thank T-Mobile for this newfound interest in providing customers with more services at no additional cost.

I agree that actual unlimited is superior, but for those who do not have a use case for true unlimited, this is a good, economical tier. And actual unlimited is not dead. I have it.

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RIP net neutrality. The smaller streaming services & stations not part of iheartmedia are the losers in this.

PC_Tool

Then they should become a part of it.

When someone can show me an instance where a legitimate, licensed service was unable to join T-Mo or Virgin's program, then I'll start buying this "RIP net neutrality" BS.

If it's truly as bad as you seem to want to make it out to be, that should be easy, right?

BetterWithRoot

From Wikipedia:

iHeartMedia, Inc. specializes in radio broadcasting through division iHeartMedia (formerly Clear Channel Media and Entertainment) and subsidiary iHeartMedia and Entertainment, Inc. (formerly Clear Channel Broadcasting, Inc.); the company owns more than 850 full-power AM and FM radio stations in the U.S., making it the nation's largest owner of radio stations. Additionally, the company leases two channels on Sirius XM Satellite Radio, and has expanded its online presence through the iHeartRadio platform. iHeartMedia, Inc. also specializes in outdoor advertising through subsidiary Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings, Inc.

I don't think it's as easy as just "become part of it".

catalysto

I think he meant become a part of the free music streaming offered by the provider.

And it's still a fail because Sprint. Not to mention the prices are still pretty terrible for prepaid.

For those talking about Net Neutrality, keep in mind that that currently applies to wired service and throttling. Are you honestly saying it would be better for you if the streaming music data counted against your cap?

catalysto

"Are you honestly saying it would be better for you if the streaming music data counted against your cap?"

Yes, because all data should be treated equally by the service provider. This action sets a dangerous precedent for other providers being able to charge MORE for certain data.

Hitokage Tamashi

I guess their $35/mo for unlimited data plan is dead? Granted, there is that cap in my grandfathered plan...

Because they should. For example, LG released 5.0 for G3 in Poland as first country. Also they should make available android pay. We have nfc terminals almost in every shop and just very small percent of people are using old magnetic credit cards.

Virgin Mobile actually launched in my country on Monday but I think if they tried to prioritise certain services like this they'd be violating EU competition laws.

marcusmarcus2

Is this really prioritizing it? Does it give you this service faster than any of the other services online? Or is it just not counting towards your data usage when using this service?

Alan S

That's exactly what prioritising is though. By doing this they're saying that X service is most important therefore we won't count data used on it whereas Y is not important so data still counts. The EU mandates that they have to all be classed as equals and that's why I think they wouldn't allow that here because it is unfair for the smaller, less known companies to compete in a monopolised market.

They have the worst coverage but offer better speeds and services than Sprint. I'm on AT&T so I don't know where their service drops and where it picks up

derk p

sprint is everywhere. doesnt matter if it doesnt work though. i have tmobile prepaid. sucks outside metro areas, but i live in the city where its perfect

KlausWillSeeYouNow

No.

Hitokage Tamashi

Now all they need is better phones .-.
Got hyped when I saw the third gen Moto G, just to get once again disappointed by their selection because they ONLY offer the 1 GB RAM/8 GB storage model. Only thing they have that's an upgrade over my Volt is an S5, which is insanely priced, /sob

My1

how about biyung an unlocked phone from the free market?

Hitokage Tamashi

You can't use a non Virgin Mobile phone on VM. Otherwise I'd have done that ages ago.

My1

dafaq? here in Germany anyone can buy a phone unlocked and place the sim of any provider they want in there.

Hitokage Tamashi

Yeah, Virgin is extremely backwards in a lot of their policies. MVNOs in America aren't always the greatest, Virgin is DEFINITELY no exception.

Paul_Werner

As per usual, nothing beats the $30 TMo plan

DnB925Art

Plus even the T-Mo prepaid plans include Digital Freedom so no impact on your 5GB data allotment. I have both Sprint and T-Mo on 2 separate phones.

derk p

google voice + living in metro area (great covg) = cheap ass phone plan. friends are shocked when they hear what i pay, but for some reason, they just cant wrap their heads around using google hangouts for voice calls so they never make the switch even though it opens a world of possibilities. (can take GV anywhere, use pc, tablet, etc)

Paul_Werner

Same here

Kaarel

10 USD for 2GB... I pay 2 EUR for 10GB :D... Scandinavia :P

TheLonelyCyborg

Those prices in the US still surprise me everytime I see one. People really spend $55 for 8 Go data ?

In EU we have, according to countries (maybe not in UK, I don't know), better for half this price.

For exemple in France I have for 15€/month unlimited calls, SMS/MMS, 10 Go data in 4G LTE-A, and Youtube unlimited. And without contract so I can stop this and change anytime I want to, with no fees. And yet we are complaining it's still too expensive !

ArtStoneUS

That probably reflects that spectrum in the United States was sold at auction by the FCC to the highest bidder, so the carriers have to cover that cost.

derk p

yeah and yall also bitch everytime google doesnt release something where yall are

We are REALLY spread out, so the cell networks have to cover a larger area, the various ISPs and internet backbones have to lay tons more cable. I know that doesn't cover the entire difference, but it does help to add some perspective.

And yeah, our cell and internet providers are generally greedy bastards. But probably not quite as unconscionably greedy as you may have thought.

ArtStoneUS

Sprint has killed the Clear wireless internet service and is converting their spectrum to LTE instead - that's probably related.

derk p

ha too bad this is crap. have you ever tried to stream audio on sprints network? it doesnt work in the car.